Their Y2K motto: Be prepared

Stockpiling food and other neccessities helps to calm the jitters of people who fear the worst as the century turns.

By TWILA DECKER

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 2, 1999

A bug that costs billions Y2K may lead to why not sue Coaxing computers to comply with 2000 For economy, Y2K bug is contagious As Y2K work wanes, companies search for new niches Buy a bug Preparedness progress report Calm, not calamity, in local forecast for Y2K Firms say they're prepared for Y2K

The year 2000 is eight months away. Do you know where your canned eggs are? How about your chicken un-meat, tomato powder or potato granules?

Internet sites with names such as Y2K Foods, Peace of Mind Essentials, Future Foods and These Times have been springing up by the dozens on the Internet, offering to sell bulk, dehydrated and freeze dried foods to those who fear the Y2K computer bug will bring chaos.

But survival shopping, spurred mostly by those who fear a massive technological glitch will bring society as we know it to a halt, isn't happening only in cyberspace.

Local outdoor and Army-Navy stores are experiencing a run on such items as gas masks, guns and ammunition, water purifiers and household safes.

"The people buying it range from executives to just everyday, normal people," said Travis Tacker, an employee at Bill Jackson's in Pinellas Park, an outdoor supply store that began experiencing increased business in January.

But Joose Hadley, a Clearwater resident who helped found Citizens for a Stable Community (http://www.make-y2k-safe.com), isn't taking the stockpile approach, which she equates with giving up on society rather than trying to fix its problems.

"We're not survivalists," she said.

Instead, her group, which has about 100 members, is working with local companies and public bodies, such as school boards and county governments, to ensure that they take necessary steps to prevent any problems that a Y2K bug could cause.

She believes computer malfunctions could disrupt electricity, water, sewer systems as well as household gadgets -- ranging from clock radios to garage door openers.

At home, she said, she and her husband are taking the advice of the American Red Cross and preparing the way they would for a hurricane or a winter storm.

The Red Cross is encouraging people to have a full tank of gas, extra cash, a few weeks' supply of water and food, batteries and to organize their paperwork so they will have mortgage and tax returns at their finger tips.

"We're taking the Boy Scout approach. We're just being prepared," said Hadley, who has organized meetings with power companies and county school districts.

"Some people are stockpiling, buying land and moving away. But we don't want to completely give up on everything," said Hadley, a freelance artist and former teacher. "I bought a home here; this is my country. My town. We are just saying what do we need to do to make it a place where we still want to live. We want to stabilize it."

But still, over the Internet, thousands of newly opened businesses are offering products for others, who see the Y2K situation as a long-term problem. The worried consumer can buy freeze-dried food, pails of honey, cans of hamburger mix, water purifying systems, battery powered bicycles and "volcano cooking systems."

Some cyberspace entrepreneurs are even offering a year's supply of "gourmet reserves" -- a ready-made meal which added water will turn into canned country bean and beef casserole and spaghetti marinara with mushrooms. Folks also can load up on beans and rice. Of course, canned spaghetti and beans and rice are sold at the local grocery store, but these Y2K stores insist their food is better.

Bob Cortese, a real estate broker, started Y2K Survival Supply Co. in Dade City about a year ago, after beginning to stock up for his own survival. Business generally has been booming, although it has slowed in recent weeks, he said. He attributes the slowdown to news reports that some governments have resolved their Y2K problems.

He also has seen a different level of consumer demand based on geography. According to Cortese, most of his business comes from people on the West Coast. He said residents of the northeastern United States have prepared hardly at all. "They're cynical about it all," he said.

Florida residents also have been relatively slow to stockpile.

"I think it is because they don't have the cold weather to worry about and they feel complacent," Cortese said.

He thinks that people who are stocking up often keep quiet about it, fearing they will be branded lunatics. Several people contacted by the St. Petersburg Times declined to comment because they have gotten negative reactions about their preparations.

"Being prepared is not something people should have to be ashamed of, but when you tell people they look at you funny," he said. "They'll think, "What a nut' or that Bill Gates will get it fixed, but Bill Gates has his own Y2K problems to fix."

Will Lehman, president of Y2KFoods, says business has been so heavy at his company that he recently moved from his farm office in Flippin, Ark., to a 22,000 square-foot warehouse to accommodate all the orders.

"We created the Y2KFoods label to deal with what we saw would be a millennium boom," Lehman said. "The people who are buying are genuinely concerned about Y2K (have an) annual income of about $30,000. These people are educated, with a knowledge of computers."

Lehman said he's no religious predictor of doomsday. He doesn't believe the world will end in the coming year, but he says the computer mess could lead to a recession and possibly a depression. The cost to businesses that have found it necessary to reprogram their computers will cause some economic dips, he said.

Lehman said that if power outages or other infrastructure problems occur because of computer bugs, a food shortage could result, as well.

"I'm holding a can of powdered eggs right now. On that can is a label that was printed with ink from some company. The can itself had to be made and all that had to get here," he said. "There is a lot that goes into getting food to a grocery store."

Lehman, who is married and has seven kids, says his family always has kept a ready supply of food. He said he learned it from his grandparents, but not everybody plans ahead.

"We're not pushing as much the millennium end-of-the-world craze, more just a wise use of resources," he said.

Russell Beam, manager of the Army Navy Store in St. Petersburg, says his business began picking up in January. One of his more popular items has been an aluminum blanket that keeps people warm by keeping their body heat from escaping.

"Some people are scared, and some are just being safe," Beam said of the customers, from all different backgrounds.

Tacker said Bill Jackson's has seen increased sales in nearly every department, especially on items that can be used for protection.

"They're buying safes to store stuff in. Water purifiers. Freeze-dried foods," he said. "Also, for home protection, we have been selling more and more shotguns. Instead of small amounts of ammunition, they're buying large cases. Instead, of buying it by the 10-pack, they're buying it by the hundred-pack."